Alexandria, Va. Jan. 16, 2013 – Daniel Domenech, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) has released the following statement:

“We share President Obama’s grief for the death of the 20 children and six school staff members gunned down in their classrooms recently in Newtown, Ct., and for the deaths of all the other children in America who die needlessly every day from gunshot wounds.

“We commend the President for his quick and decisive leadership in moving the country toward sensible gun control measures. We applaud the steps that he outlined in his remarks, and we urge members of Congress to move quickly toward the passage of appropriate and significant legislation.

“We recognize that the issues surrounding school safety are complex and must be addressed in multiple ways. We particularly applaud the President’s directives that will give law enforcement, schools, mental health professionals and the public health community more tools in their fight to reduce gun violence.

“We agree with the President that it is possible to ‘respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible, law-breaking few from inflicting harm on a massive scale.’ We believe that President Obama has made an important first step to accomplish that goal. AASA will work diligently in the coming months to support the President’s efforts.”

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The January 14 statement on school safety issued by the AASA Executive Committee can be found here.

The December 22 statement on student safety from AASA executive director, Daniel A. Domenech can be found here.

Resources for schools leaders on school safety and student mental health in critical incidents can be found here.

About AASA The American Association of School Administrators, founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 13,000 educational leaders in the United States and throughout the world. The mission of AASA is to advocate for the highest quality public education for all students, and develop and support school system leaders. For more information, visit www.aasa.org. Follow AASA on twitter at www.twitter.com/AASAHQ. Become a fan of the AASA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AASApage. Follow AASA executive director, Dan Domenech @AASADan.

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